Samsung Selected by Vodafone Romania for Open RAN Rollout

Romania’s major urban cities will be connected by Samsung’s advanced 2G, 4G and 5G Open RAN solutions — transitioning to modern and open network architecture

Samsung Electronics today announced that it has been selected by Vodafone Romania to deploy its fully virtualized RAN software (vRAN) and radio solutions for the Open RAN rollout across Romania. This commercial deployment will cover major urban cities in Romania to deliver high-quality, stable commercial network services to Vodafone’s customers.

Samsung will provide its vRAN solutions supporting multi-RAT, automation solutions and Open RAN-compliant triple-band radios as well as 5G Massive MIMO radios. Samsung’s triple-band radio combines 700MHz, 800MHZ and 900MHz frequency bands into one compact radio that provides multi-spectrum coverage for 2G, 4G and 5G, enabling increased network capacity, greater flexibility and a smaller footprint.

Samsung’s software-based vRAN solution supports multiple generations of network technologies in a single platform — including 2G — which is an important spectrum for Internet of Small Things (IoST), machine-to-machine (M2M) communications and voice communications for roaming services in Europe.

“The momentum behind Open RAN technologies, in Vodafone and amongst our partners, is building,” said Alberto Ripepi, Chief Network Officer at Vodafone Group. “As new technologies like generative AI take root and are embedded within businesses, factories, and healthcare practices, they will require intelligence-based powerful networks to support them. Open RAN is designed to do just that.”

“As our collaboration with Vodafone continues to make strides across Europe, this rollout in Romania will mark a significant milestone that underscores our dedication to network innovation,” said Woojune Kim, President and Head of Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “Our pioneering network solutions will propel Vodafone Romania’s transformation journey, providing a flexible and powerful way to realize the full potential of Open RAN. We look forward to combining our diverse experiences together to reshape the future of connectivity.”

This announcement follows Samsung’s pilot project with Vodafone last year in Romania. The companies completed the first 4G calls over shared commercial Open RAN in Romania’s rural areas. Samsung is collaborating with Vodafone to support its Open RAN initiative in both rural and urban areas of Romania, helping the operator transition to an open network architecture.

Since switching on the U.K.’s first 5G Open RAN site in 2022, Vodafone and Samsung have been validating Open RAN technology in a brownfield, urban environment, reaching KPIs that matched or exceeded legacy kit. Making continuous progress in Europe, back in August 2023, the companies announced their massive Open RAN rollout in the U.K., a key stage in Vodafone’s plan to equip 30% of all its European sites with Open RAN by 2030.

Samsung has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions, including chipsets, radios and cores. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung drives the industry to advance 5G networks with its market-leading product portfolio, from vRAN 3.0, Open RAN, Core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools. The company currently provides network solutions to mobile operators that deliver connectivity to hundreds of millions of users worldwide.